30 Days for Freyr: Day III

Hail Freyr, he who pushes me towards self acceptance and excellence.
Hail Freyr, he who provides for our needs through his blessing and sacrifice.
Hail Freyr, the joy of Gerda and Freyja.
Hail Freyr, the bountiful giver.
Hail Freyr, the son of Njord and Nerthus, of Sea and Earth.
Hail Freyr, beloved of the Æsir and the Vanir.
Hail Freyr, of the wheat gold hair and shining smile.
Hail Freyr, the keeper of Gullinbursti.
Hail Freyr, the god of the World.
Hail Freyr, he who walks Hel's road and returns from that distant land.

Psychic Self Defense 101: Shields (Part 3 of 3)

The creation of a psychic defensive fortification is the apex of shielding and when done properly can insulate a practitioner from most any form of magical and psychic assault encountered. At its simplest, a set of nested psychic shields functions as a defensive fortification. Within the safety of the shields, one finds themselves free of the distractions of psychic noise from their environment, hostile encounters, and able to experiment with psychic constructs with out interference from 'external' pressures. The nested psychic shields present a smaller 'space' wherein one might operate. As such, the visualization of the nested psychic shields limits the range of psychic constructs that can be developed within them.

With the addition of mental space between the shields and in the inner area, one creates a psychic construct that allows them greater range of constructs that can be developed and manipulated. This arrangement of shields with mental space between them is known in some circles as a castle. This can be visualized as a series of spheres around the psychic or it can be visualized as a brick and mortar castle with outer bulwarks and a moat. The psychic castle draws off of the skills of hardening one's outer aura and developing an inner space wherein a psychic person might operate.

The development of psychic inner space is commonly encountered with guided visualizations where one is instructed to explore some sort of location within themselves. We have unlimited capacity for developing psychic inner space. This could be argued to be a function of the 'As above, so below' maxim which presents the psychic as a miniature version of the cosmos. With intense concentration and strong visualization skills, it is possible for one to create an entire world within themselves. (It can be argued that authors do this on a regular basis.) World building within, however, can draw away the focus and concentration required to maintain one's psychic defenses. This is why such exercises are done in psychically neutral locations that have protective barriers in place, such as a ritual circle.

The psychic defenses used to construct the castle varies. It is possible to use elemental energies to great success. It is also possible to build one on the basis of pure will. In using elemental energies, the psychic taps the thought forms of the elemental energies and draws power for their shield primarily from them. A will based psychic defense draws upon the creator's willpower and mental energy. Will based psychic defenses are good for short term defense but can prove exhausting to the psychic utilizing them.

A combination of shields with space between them is also useful for defensive measures that act as passive resistance to psychic assault. Charging the space between shields with unpleasant emotions or seeding them with ties to painful experiences is an effective way to push back against the person psychically assaulting you. This works upon the principle that if they can send information when there is contact with you, then you can send information back. Thus, the person attempting to push through your psychic shields will not only encounter the resistance of the shields themselves but the effects of what you have placed between them. This can range from sensations of mental discomfort to sensations of physical discomfort. It can also include vivid experiences of negative memories or thought forms that the defender has experienced, depending upon the force of the experience attached to the space and the receiver's attunement to the sender.

Part of the appeal of a psychic castle defense comes from the simple fact that its function is to protect the psyche of the defender. Another reason why psychic castles are used is to create a 'safe space' where the person who has developed their castle can take refuge from environmental influences. This 'safe space' functions on multiple levels. It serves as a location where the psychic in question is insulated from external psychic stimuli. It is also a mental location where one can take refuge from distressing mental stimuli, such as a traumatic memory.

Call for Topics!

Providing original content for the blog is challenging at times. I worry that I am not covering truly interesting or useful material for you, my Reader. It has been a little while since I have put out a request for topic ideas. As we're getting ready for fall (in the Filianic calendar, the season of fall starts with the first day of the month of Abolan which is Sept. 5 according to the Julian calendar) and everything that goes along with it, I came to the realization that my writing time was going to dramatically increase with my boys going back to school. Because my time for research will also be increasing, I wanted to get some ideas from you as to what I should be looking into.

Over the next several months, it is my intention to continue the articles regarding psychic self defense. Currently, I am assembling the third post in the series (which happens to be the final post on shields) and I expect to have it completed Tuesday evening. I am also participating in the 30 Days for Freyr meme, though I have been very disorganized and unfocused. These two things, however, do not make adequate fodder for this blog. I would like to present more things for you to enjoy and be informed by. As such, I humbly ask that you tell me what you are interested in seeing.

I will be typing up spells on my other witchcraft blog and linking them to here with a short description of what they are for and how to use them. If there is some specific form of spell that you are interested in, please let me know and I will search my multi-volume book of shadows to find what information I have buried in there. It is an extended project, but I am going to be organizing the material in my book of shadows to generate a spell book, a book of rituals, and a record of prophecy and psychic readings. In the process of working on this off-line project, I know that I will be coming across material that will be relevant to this blog and I will be posting it as I find it.

Additionally, if you are interested in being a guest poster, please contact me. We can discuss themes and topics that you would like to explore. We will also talk about details like publication rights to your work and related matters. Because, I know that writing is as much of a business as a labor of love.

TL:DR version: Tell me what you would like me to write about. I have a few things planned for the next few months but more ideas would be appreciated. If you want to do a guest post, contact me so we can work out the details.

30 Days for Freyr: Day II - Frith & Fertility

If you're familiar with Heathenry, you will be aware of the concept of frith. Frith is in modern belief more than a calm environment or a state of non-aggression. It encompasses a place and state of peace, security, and neutrality where even the bitterest of enemies put aside their disagreements for the sake of it. It is something that is associated with Freyr.

It is a fairly common belief that Freyr blesses and protects they who protect the state of frith where ever it is. As such, people who are in law enforcement and public service (such as EMTs and firefighters) are held to be under his auspices. We're not entirely sure how his role of maintaining frith in the ancient communities played out. There is a good deal of theorizing that his role as a god of frith is highlighted in his role as a hostage at the end of the Æsir-Vanir war. Some people have argued that his marriage to Gerda and surrendering his sword is another example of frith making, but I think that is a bit of a stretch considering the mythos.

Along with frith, Freyr is a god of fertility. He is a god associated with life in many, many aspects. As a fertility deity, Freyr was called upon in antiquity to bless the herds and crops of farmers to provide for their needs and give them prosperity. I suspect that he was also invoked to bless people who were attempting to conceive children. Fertility in many ways has changed to a more abstract concept for modern followers of Freyr.

Instead of asking his blessing over their non-existent farm, Freyr is asked to bless people's endeavors to gain prosperity. He is still very much a deity invoked to assist childless couples to conceive children. While the blessings of prosperity are not directly fertility related, there is still a measure of that spiritual concept behind it because it is the energy of increase. For some people engaged in creative efforts, Freyr is at times asked to bless their efforts with the more abstract fertility of the mind. It is a bit of a linguistic play and mental gymnastics to phrase fertility in this fashion, but I have gotten the impression that Freyr is happy to help in such things because of the way it brings peace and prosperity into the world.

I have personally known the blessings of Freyr in the areas of frith and fertility. When Beloved and I were struggling to conceive our children, he was one of the deities that was invoked to help us. I don't think it was mere coincidence that a few short months after said invocation, I became pregnant with my elder child. I am more than a little bit sure that Freyr had blessed my home to be a place of peace years ago. As Freyr has become more active in my life, I have found that greater blessings of prosperity have appeared across my path.

Psychic Self Defense 101: Shields (Part 2 of 3)

From Wikipedia

In my previous post, I discussed the basics of how a shield is formed and how it functions. The simple shield that I described in that post is the foundation of other more complicated and specialized shields. A large part of making a good psychic shield rests in effective visualization techniques[1]. With proper visualization and focus, one can produce a shield that is highly effective for general protection or for protection from specialized psychic assaults.

Like the physical shields used since antiquity, psychic shields can be manufactured from different 'materials'. The most common materials used in psychic shields of modern magicians[2] correspond to the classical four elements that are referenced in alchemical texts from the late Medieval and Renaissance periods of European history, which are in turn rooted in the texts of antiquity from the Roman and Greek cultures. The use of these materials is one that is common for two reasons. They are easiest for practitioners to access due to the relatively unbroken line of connection to them through out Western culture and they are based in things that are easily accessible to our understanding and therefore more 'real' to us than other psychic materials that can be used.

The easiest of the four elements that we can access is that of Earth. In all places about the globe where people live, they live upon the Earth. The solidity of the Earth and the strength of how it is perceived varies to some degree from region to region based upon the geological conditions. In a region where sand is the dominant land form, the element of Earth is more fluid than it is in a region where the dominant land forms are rocky, such as in a mountainous region. In both places, however, the element of Earth tends to be more fixed than the other three elements. A shield which is constructed drawing upon the energies of Earth will be solid and less porous than a shield constructed from the other elemental energies. It will, however, be such that the caster must apply greater effort to manipulate the shield after it has been established. Also, shields that are based strictly in Earth energy can be worn down eventually through the application of magic that is based in the Water element.

The element of Water is the second densest of energies. Almost as prevalent as Earth, Water energy is highly mutable and varies widely in how it can be applied, where as Earth is generally a fixed element. Just as the water that is physically upon the globe has different depths and qualities, the Water elemental energy can range from a shallow highly permeable type of energy form to a depthless and fearsomely powerful energy form to a brittle solid energy form that is not permeable to most any other energy forms. A shield constructed from Water's elemental energy is effective against magic based in Earth elemental energy and of mixed results with magic that is based in Air energy. Fire energy is extremely effective against Water and depending upon the 'depth' of your shield, it can nullify the Water energy's protective effect fairly quickly.

Fire energy (which includes electrical energy via the Western four elements classification system) is considered highly active. Fire energy is a bit harder to access with out props (i.e. a candle, fire, etc.) because it is not as immediate before our eyes and senses. It tends to be the most challenging of elemental energies to control because it is extremely mutable and volatile. A shield based in Fire energy is susceptible to Water and Earth energies, as they will quench or smother the Fire energy. It is, however, the elemental energy that can be strengthened when another element is applied against it, Air. A Fire based shield is permeable to Earth energy and not well suited for defense against Water based elemental magic for reasons stated above. It is, however, excellent for defense against Air magic because the application of Air elemental magic will strengthen and add more 'power' to the shield.

The element of Air is the lightest of the energies in this system. Air is the second most accessible of the energy forms because it is present everywhere. Against Earth magic, the shield based in Air energy is useless. It is equally ineffective against Water magic. This is because it is the most permeable of the energies that a magician can use. It is possible to use a shield based in the element of Air against Fire magic, but only for a limited time because the Air energy will increase the potency of the Fire magic over time.

Constructing an elemental shield is a process that is virtually identical to that of the basic mirrored sphere shield. Simply envisioning one's outer aura surrounded by the element in as great or little of a thickness that you require serves to create this shield. Earth shields are effective for absorbing and grounding magical and psychic attacks directed against the defender. Water shields are effective for deflecting and grounding attacks. Fire shields absorb attacks and deflect them. Air shields deflect attacks and can function to obfuscate the defender from the attacker.

Each shield used alone is somewhat effective. They are most effective, however, when used in concert with each other. Generally, elemental shields are used as an outer layer to the mirrored sphere. A nested shield effect can be done by visualizing the shields stacked upon each other with a space between them. Shields that are paired with the ones they are most vulnerable are more effective because the outer shield serves as a filter for the energy they are vulnerable to. Thus, a magician may use a Fire shield as their outermost shield to absorb and filter out that element's energy to prevent it from damaging the Water shield beneath it.

The use of nested shields is a step towards creating a 'castle' with a 'moat' about it. This technique will be discussed in the next article.

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1. As with other forms of psychic exercise and spell craft, the ability to maintain concentration upon the goal of your exercise is paramount. It is this focused concentration and the ability to vividly visualize the end goal in a fashion that incorporates as many of the senses as possible that directs one's personal psychic energy into the 'structure' of the end result.

2. I am using the term magicians to encompass all people who engage in the magical arts, amongst which psychic ability is classed. Other authors may use the terms 'mage' or 'occultists.' I have in past articles and consider all three terms to be interchangeable. Do not confuse the term magician in this discussion with the stage magicians of the entertainment industry, they are only indirectly related.

30 Days for Freyr: Day I

Who is Freyr?

While I could give the dry account of the role Freyr has in the pantheons of the Aseir and the Vanir, I think everybody else and their cousin who is doing this meme has that covered a thousand times over. So, I'm going to take this from an entirely different angle. I'm going to share with you who Freyr is to me. 

I have struggled with how to write this for almost a week now. It is not because Freyr is not important to me. It is because he is very important to me and I keep feeling like words are inadequate. He sat me down last night and we had a very candid conversation about that feeling. I was told in no uncertain terms that my perfectionism is what is stopping me in many areas of my life and I needed to 'knock it off.' There were some other things said regarding my perfectionism, but that wanders into entirely different territory.


Freyr is someone I love dearly. I love his smile and the way his eyes light up when he laughs. I love the way he will chuckle over my being a dork. I love how he is willing to stop in the midst of all the important work he is doing to just be with me and comfort me when I'm having a bad day or my anxiety is bad. I love how he has always encouraged me to do my best and helped me have the tools I needed to do so. I love how he has stepped in and adjusted things so that I was no longer drowning in despair because I could finally see some hope in the situation. I love how he holds me when it is the end of the day and will just talk to me as I fall asleep. (Which happens right after Beloved is done doing the same. The love from the two of them makes it my favorite part of the day.)

I love the way he'll just randomly smile at me like I am the most beautiful thing on the face of the Earth. I love how he holds my hands when we're out walking and tells me about how his day has been. I love how he will let me comfort him when he is upset with all of the horrors in the world. I love his voice, which is more than just a psychic sound but feels like being wrapped up in a warm velvet blanket on a chill evening. I love how much hope and faith he has in humanity. I love the way he does little things to help my family when things are lean. I adore his generosity and aspire to cultivate that kind of spirit in myself.

I love the way he smells when he is with me. He smells of sun warmed grain fields, honey, and that undefinable smell that mixes fresh baked bread with that of a clean house where the sun is shining in the windows and the breeze softly blowing in. Freyr smells like home to me. He never ceases to amaze and humble me with his love.

Psychic Self Defense 101: Shields (Part 1 of 3)

A solid shield is a warrior's boon companion. It turns away life threatening blows and can, itself, be a weapon in trained hands. Just as a physical shield can be a formidable thing with proper training, a psychic shield is just as impressive. And, like a physical shield, it can be something simple and functional or something complicated and multifaceted. They are something that everyone has to some limited fashion but with training their shield becomes more solid and effective.

At its base level, a psychic shield is the hardening of one's bio-energetic envelope at its outermost layers. This bio-energetic envelope is known by various terms but the most commonly used one is that of aura. While auras are known for communicating information to those who have the ability to sense and read them, they also act like a 'skin' for our spiritual/psychic bodies. (They actually have many functions, but for the purpose of this series of articles, we're going to focus on this one.)

The outermost part of our aura has a limited capacity by itself to repel energies that are not of itself. This limited capacity to repel energy is one that all people (and, honestly, all beings). For this reason, we are not continually ground down by the repeated input that comes from our environment. Add to this the fact that most people do not focus upon the psychic input that they receive, and you find many, many people in the world declaring that their aura is not much of a thing or even stating that it does not exist. When the situation is that the aura's outer envelope is performing its function and inhibiting excess information from coming in to our psychic senses and the person in question having limited capacity/ability for processing that information¹. These two things serve to insulate the person from the psychic input and what it may do to their mental state.

Problems arise when input has sufficient force to push through that natural barrier. This may be due to the person having a weaker psychic 'skin' than others. It may also be due to the person being especially sensitive to certain forms of psychic input. Additionally, there are conditions that can weaken one's psychic 'skin' and create their own set of problems. A miasmic situation, for example, makes a person vulnerable to psychic problems because it weakens one's psychic 'skin' and can lead to them becoming 'infected' with a psychic illness².

One of the things that lends itself to a healthy psychic 'skin' is being in good physical, mental, and emotional health³. This puts your psychic 'skin' in its optimal state of health. The other thing that lends itself to healthy psychic 'skin' is practicing proper psychic and magical hygiene. Like the physical body, the psychic/spiritual body functions better and is more able to adapt to the environmental situations when it is in proper health and well maintained. Part of this is exercising one's psychic abilities, because regular exercise is necessary for one's well being on all levels when done judiciously.

The most basic exercise for one's psychic 'skin' happens to be the most basic of shield techniques. It is a mentally based exercise, though if it is necessary to use external foci this is acceptable as well. Holding a picture of yourself in your mind (or holding a physical picture, this could mean a mirror providing an image for you) envision your aura about you. As you envision it, become aware of the sensations upon your skin. Focusing on your aura, you will begin to feel a tingling, warmth, or coolness upon your skin as you become aware of it. The aura envelops you in an oval figure approximately the same dimensions as your height and your extended arms length in both directional planes. Because this is a three dimensional figure, it is somewhat like a spheroid.

Focus your attention on the outer edges of this spheroid. As you focus upon this region of your aura, see it becoming increasingly solid. A mirrored surface is directed at the world about you, which reflects unwelcome and unhealthful psychic input away. The inner surface of this mirrored spheroid emits a soft white light. This light is the gathered healthful psychic input that touches your aura and permitted to pass through. Practice hardening this 'shell' so that the light emitted dims. Then practice on softening this shell so that the light becomes brighter.

Practicing this exercise on a frequent basis does two things. First, it makes you more aware of your shield, which is what this shell can be called. This makes the shield easier to envision/access when you feel threatened, unsafe, or unwell. Secondly, this exercise works to help you learn to control the strength of your shield. At it's hardest, your psychic shield will only allow in the psychic energies that you permit and what is hardwired into your environment. Thus, the psychic energy of the chair you are sitting in will be present but the residual energy of the previous occupant will not come through when your shield is at its hardest.

Awareness of your shield makes it easier for you to strengthen it. In part, it is strengthened when ever you feed additional energy to it (which happens when you think of it). It is also strengthened when you focus upon it and intentionally direct energy into it. When starting out with actively using your psychic shield, it may be good to have a reminder that your shield is present. Some people wear jewelery that reminds them of their shield⁴. (Yes, you can imitate Harry Dresden and have your own shield bracelet. It works, though not as dramatically as Dresden's does.) The jewelry becomes a focus point that helps you access the thoughtform of your shield.

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1. The ability to process psychic input is one that can be acquired through training and learning to 'listen' with those senses. I will discuss it at a later time.

2. Psychic illness will be discussed in greater detail after the holidays. There is some research currently underway to develop a concise method for assessing if one is suffering from some form of psychic illness and to assemble a partial list of illnesses that are common.

3. In the case of chronic conditions, the individual maintaining the highest state of health their condition allows is what maintains one's psychic 'skin'. There are exercises that can be used to maintain the health of their psychic body and decouple it, to a measurable extent, from the physical, mental, and emotional factors that power it.

4. Jewelry as a focus for your psychic shield is similar and related to the use of a talisman. I'll talk more about them in a later post.